Building construction



.Dec. 1924- 1,521,373

D. w. KEEN BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Filed Oct. 16, 1922 Patented Dec. 30, 1924.

UNITED STATES DAVID W. KEEN, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION.

Application filed October 16, 1922. Serial No. 594,680.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, DAVID IV. KEEN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the borough of Brooklyn, county of Kings, city and State of New York, have invented an Improvement in Building Constructions, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention relates to constructions, such as the walls of building and the like, and aims to devise a method of erecting such constructions, and means and instrumentalities which may be used in connection with such a method, whereby the desired constructions may be erected and installed with a minimum expenditure of time, labor, and material, and, if necessary or desirable, without the use of skilled labor. A further object of the present invention is to devise means whereby constructions of the character specified above may be provided of a strong and durable nature, and of a neat and attractive appearance.

By way of example I shall, in the accompanying specification describe, and in the annexed drawing show, preferred embodiments of the method and means of the present invention. It is, however, to be understood that my invention is not limited to the specific embodiments thereof herein shown and described for purposes of illustration only.

Referrii'ig to the drawing, wherein I have shown the aforesaid illustrative embodiments of the present invention:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of one type of building block, brick or similar unit which I may use in the practice of the present invention;

" igure 2 is a top plan view of said building block, brick or unit;

Figure 3 is a view, in perspective, illustrating the practice of the method of the present invention and also one type of construction which may result therefrom; and

Figure 4 is a view, in cross section, of said illustrative type of construction.

Referring to the aforesaid illustrative embodiments of the present invention, and more particularly to the drawing illustrating the same, I may employ in the practice of the method of the present invention, a construction unit generally designated by reference character 10, which may be in the form of a grooved block, brick or similar unit. Preferably the construction unit is provided with a plurality of grooves 11 and 12.

In the specific form illustrated, which is the preferred form for many types of construction, the construction unit comprises a substantially H-shaped block or brick having the two side members 13 and 14 and the cross member 15. ,The cross member 15 joins the side members 13 and 14.

It will be noted that in the form illustrated, the side member 14 is substantially shorter than the side member 13, and that the block or brick as a whole is substan tially symmetrical about an axis 16 passing substantially through the center line of the cross member 15. It will also be noted that each of the side members 13 and 14 has portions thereof extending both above and below the line or axis 16 passing substantially through the center of the cross member 15. It will also be noted that the width of the spacesor grooves 11 and 12 between, and defined by, the side members 13 and 141 is at least equal to the width of either of the side members, for a purpose subsequently to be described in detail.

In the practice of the method of the present invention, the construction unit described above may be utilized and assembled, and the wall or other construction erected as follows: I prefer, in the first instance, to set up in substantially vertical position one or more guides, generally designated by the reference character 20, and of such cross dimensions as to be readily received by and substantially entirely included within cooperating pairs of grooves 11 and 12 of cooperating or opposed construction units 10, as more clearly shown in Figures 3 and 4 of the drawin The substantially vertical or equivalent guide members 20 are suitably erected, as by being placed in the ground, foundation or other support suitable or desirable for their proper maintenance and positioning. I now surround said guide member or members with a plurality of the building or construction units in such a manner that the opposed or cooperating grooves of the construction units at least partially surround the respective guide members 20. Preferably the arrangement of construction units 10 with respect to the guide members 20 is such that the cooperating grooves of oooperating pairs of construction units cooperate to substantially entirely surround the respective guide members 20. It is not necessary that as many guide members be provided as there are pairs of cooperating grooves providing columnar spaces 21 within which the substantially vertical guide members 20 are positioned. For example, in the form of the invention more particularly illustrated in Figures 3 and 4 of the drawing, there are one-half as many vertical guides 20 as there are columnar spaces 21. Accordingly, in the form shown, the guides 20 are positioned only in alternate spaces 21.

It will be noted in connection with the foregoing description defining the arrangement of the vertical guide members 20 and of the rows and layers of blocks, bricks or other construction units 10, that the vertical guide members serve to properly position and guide the different rows and layers of the blocks, bricks or other construction units 10.

By initially setting up in substantially vertical position one or more of the guide members 20, and thereafter surrounding said guide members 20 with the construction units 10, particularly where the opposed or cooperating pairs of grooves with which the construction units 10 are provided cooperate to at least partially surround the vertical guide members 20, I provide a method of construction by which the wall or other structure being erected in accordance with the method and means of the present invention, may be set up with a minimum expenditure of time, labor and material. The method also makes it possible to dispense with the use of skilled labor, since it requires no particular skill to set up the guide members 20 or their equivalents in a substantially vertical position.

Once the guide members 20 have been erected in proper position and at the proper distances apart, any person, however little skilled in the art of masonry, may position the building blocks or units 10 properly and with the assurance that the resulting structure will constitute a neat, safe, durable and wvor*lrmaiililre job. The method and means of the present invention moreover, serve greatly to facilitate and expedite the erection of walls and similar structures made in accordance with the principles of the present invention.

I The finished'wall, generally designated by reference character 30, will include a series of columnar or otherwise shaped air spaces above, it may be noted that the resulting construction, particularly where, as is preferred, the sidemembers 18 and 14: of the construction unit 10- are of different lengths, is adapted to yield varying arrangements of surface appearance and; texture. In the particular form of the invention illustrated in Figures 3 and L of the drawing, both the inner and'the outer walls 31 and 32, respectively, are of the type known in the art as the Flemish bond. 'Not only may the walls or equivalent structures erected in a'ccordance with the present invention be set up without the necessity of using for this purpose skilled labor, which is, under the present conditions of the labor market, difficult and often impossible to obtain, or, if obtainable, can be employed only at wages which make construction workualmost prohibitivelyv expensive, but the present invention renders the erection of such walls or structures quick, and requires a minimum expenditure of time and of labor, while 'yieldinga structure which is fireproof, du-

rable, and safe, which Will satisfy all of the requirements of the usual building and fire regulations, and which possesses a very neat,

attractive and workmanlike appearance;

lVhat I claim is:

1. As anart-icle'of manufacture, a construction unit comprising a substantiallyshorter than the other side member and the width of the space between said side members being at least equal to the width of either side member.

The method of erecting constructions for buildings and the like, which comprises the steps of setting up, in substantially vertical position, one or more guide members,

and thereafter surrounding said guide mem-' ber or members with one or more building units having angular grooves therein adapted to partially enclose said guide member or members and to be positioned thereby.

each of said sets surrounding one of said guide members, said building units being H-shaped and the grooves thereof each partially surrounding one of said guide mem bers for properly positioning said building units, and additional, similarly shaped building units interposed between said sets of building units.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification this 5th day of October, 1922.

DAVID W. KEEN. 

